Sound is an important way to communicate information to a player in a casino. For example, sound can be used to attract a player to a game and to communicate information about how to play the game, paytable information, etc. Sounds can be used to prompt the player to perform certain tasks, to celebrate winning events, and to announce winning events to nearby players.
Accordingly, sounds produced by a gaming machine may be for the intended benefit of different “audiences.” Some types of sounds produced by a gaming machine are intended for the person playing that gaming machine, whereas other sounds produced by the gaming machine are intended to be heard by other people. Still other sounds produced by the gaming machine are intended to be heard not only by the person playing that gaming machine, but also by other people.
One drawback to using sound as part of gaming machine operation is sound volume regulation. The ambient noise level in a casino varies greatly throughout the day. At peak times, a casino is quite loud. At off-peak times, however, a casino is relatively quiet.
The dynamic range of the ambient noise level creates a problem for game designers wishing to fully utilize sounds to communicate with players. If a gaming machine's volume is set high enough to be heard in the casino during peak times, it will be unpleasantly loud during non-peak times. The off-peak “hyper-volume” problem is sufficiently disturbing that casino personnel reduce the volume on sound-generating gaming machines.
Further, the volume of sounds produced by conventional casino gaming machines cannot be altered by a player. Manual downward volume adjustment by casino personnel during non-peak casino periods is time-consuming. Subsequent adjustment is required as the casino business again increases.
During peak times, people in a gaming establishment are subjected to high-volume sounds, most of which are not intended for the person hearing the sounds. Moreover, some game designers have been known to minimize the use of sounds because of the foregoing issues. Accordingly, if such sound-related problems were resolved, gaming machine sounds could be used more effectively and extensively.